Friday, November 25, 2016

Europe October 2016 (Updated)

Shock: A legacy OEM actively selling their plug-ins, imagine that!

BMW is the new Top Dog

The European EV market
had more than 17.000 registrations last month, 1% down over October
2015, this sales slip has to do with the incentives-derived sales rush in the
last quarter of 2015, so expect this trend to continue throughout the end this
year. In October, we saw a balanced ranking in the Top Spots:

#1
BMW i3 – Thanks to the massive
arrival of the 33 kWh units, the BMW i3 continues to impress, earning another
Number One trophy in October, this time with 1.656 units, up 51% YoY. The largest markets to absorb the improved
range Bimmers were Norway (503 units,
all BEV), Germany (391 deliveries, of which 117 were Rex units) and Austria
(164 deliveries, 11 Rex).

#2 Renault Zoe – Registrations were down 21%
YoY to 1.447 units, it seems the 40
kWh version is already making itself felt, with buyers waiting for the extended
range version. Let’s see if the French carmaker does a Tesla-like stunt in
December and delivers their Zoe ZE40 at record levels. It surely has a long
enough waiting list to surprise us, do I hear 3.500 units, Renault? Back to October, besides the French market
(844 units), the French hatch also sold ok in Norway (161 units) and Germany
(147).

#3 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – After a
close race, the Japanese SUV was Third in October, with 1.444 units, only three units behind the Renault Zoe, but
Mitsubishi saw its plug-in SUV sales drop 43% YoY, as in the end of last year its
sales were heavily inflated by incentives changes in the Netherlands and Sweden.
Having lost those two markets, now the Outlander PHEV has the United Kingdom
and Norway to hold sales at high levels.

#4 VW Passat GTE – Besides the usual
Sweden and Norway, big time Passat GTE lovers, Volkswagen’s midsize offering is also gaining traction in the Netherlands,
with 250 units, its best result of the year there, allowing it to reach the Fourth
Position in Europe, with 1.372 units, its
best result in 2016. With the right mix of electric range, space, power and
price, the Passat GTE is destined for success as company car across Europe.

#5 Nissan Leaf – Sales of the Japanese
hatch were surprisingly up 5% YoY, to 1.212
units, with the UK, France and Norway providing enough sales to keep it up
with the best. Prospective sales could be even higher, if they had followed
Renault and presented a 40 kWh version. With the 60 kWh Second Generation Leaf
still a year away, this EV pioneer deserves another update to end the career on
a high note, don’t you think? It’s never too late, Nissan…

White BMW 740e: As we all know, this color increases range and makes owners sexier...

Looking at the YTD
ranking, due to an update to the UK sales (Now certified until Q3), the
Outlander PHEV came even closer to the leader Renault Zoe, with only 12 units
separating them this could be a close race until the end, with the decision of
the outcome on the hands of Renault and its ability to deliver enough Zoe ZE 40
units in time to beat the Japanese SUV. I would be disappointed if Renault
didn’t pulled it off, but then again, lately many forecasts have been
contradicted, so…

Looking below the
podium, the rejuvenated BMW i3 keeps on improving, now at Fourth Place and
dropping the Tesla Model S to Fifth, while the Renault Kangoo ZE profited from
a positive month (557 units, year best), to climb one position to #16.

Now that this
report is covering the Top 30 models, we can see some interesting events that
previously went unnoticed, like the steady climb of the Audi Q7 e-Tron, jumping
to #22 thanks to 540 units, or the appearance of the #29 Mercedes GLC350e,
which scored a personal best 256 units in last month, thus becoming the Second
Best Rookie of 2016, only behind the media-friendly
Tesla Model X (#21). An interesting sign of the current times, is that all
these three rising stars are Luxury
SUV’s…

October brought a
surprising performance from the Mercedes GLE500e, scoring 180 units, a new
record, so it seems that Mercedes is increasing production of their plug-in
SUV’s, something that also needs to do to the S500e flagship, because the BMW
740e has shaken this rarefied segment since it landed four months ago, the Bavarian barge is now only 18 units
behind the Mercedes plug-in (510 vs 492), and having sold more 100 units than
its Three-pointed-star competitor last month, one can say that BMW can already
order the Full-Size plug-in trophy.

BMW had more good
news in the manufacturers ranking, benefiting from the i3 good moment, an
extensive lineup and strong advertising across the continent (The only
carmaker doing so), allowed the
Munich-based manufacturer (16%, up 1%) to remove Volkswagen (15%, down 1%) from
the leadership, an impressive feat considering that BMW ended 2015 in Sixth,
with only 8% share.

In Third we have Renault,
with 13% share (Down 1%), followed by Nissan (11%) and Mitsubishi (10%).

in Europe there is currently a great shortage of proposals Tesla, so the price of used Tesla 2014 -2015 years of production more expensive by 10 - 20% than in the new USA.http://auto.co.uk/search/findoffer/srt/0/order/desc